Orange Throws Out Office, Apartment Plan

June 14, 1985|By Jonathan Susskind of The Sentinel Staff

The Orange County staff on Thursday turned down a proposed office and apartment development on Maitland Boulevard, saying it would not fit in with nearby homes and could set a precedent for more offices on the boulevard.

The 34-acre site is owned by the William Battaglia family of Winter Park. Maitland has decided to try to buy or condemn the land for a city park. The property is outside city limits and subject to county control. The proposal was heard by the Development Review Committee that is composed of the heads of the county zoning, engineering and utilities departments.

It was the second time in several months that the Battaglias had come to the county with land development plans. The first proposal for offices alone was rejected in March for similar reasons.

The latest plans for the South Sandspur Grove Office Village call for nearly two-thirds of the land to contain clusters of ''residential-type'' offices up to 35 feet high and 50 apartments on the other part of the land.

County staff said the project would be inconsistent with the current land- use plans for the area, which call for single-family homes or possibly apartments all along the boulevard east of Interstate 4.

Jim Sellen, planner for the Battaglias, argued that the land is unsuitable for homes because it is next to the heavily traveled boulevard. Sellen named Crown Oak Centre on State Road 434 in Longwood as an example of a place where professional offices on a busy road exist next to expensive homes.

The Battaglia land is even better suited for that kind of development, Sellen said, because of a planned 160-foot separation and a wall between the offices and surrounding homes. A precedent for offices exists with an architectural firm's building on the boulevard just east of the site, he said. Members of the county staff said approval of Sandspur Grove would set the stage for strip commercial development on other Maitland Boulevard properties. They insisted that multifamily homes would be better suited for the area and indicated they could support a larger number of homes per acre. Now 7.5 homes per acre are allowed.

William Battaglia said his family and consultants soon will decide whether to redesign and resubmit the plans or take them as they are to the planning and zoning commission with the staff's recommendation for denial.